Mikulski bids farewell

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski called for a return to civility in politics and vowed to continue serving Maryland as a private citizen during an emotional farewell speech on the Senate floor Wednesday in which she reflected on a career in office that has spanned more than four decades.

Surrounded by Democratic and Republican senators who came to hear her final major address, Mikulski recalled her early years in the male-dominated Senate and thanked voters for allowing a grocer's daughter from Highlandtown to rise to the highest levels of power on Capitol Hill.

"It is time for me to say goodbye to elected office, but not to service," said Mikulski, who will retire when a new Congress is sworn in next month. "For me, no issue was too small to take up and no cause was too big for me to take on."

Maryland's senior senator — the longest-serving member of Congress in state history and the longest-serving woman in congressional history — pointed to her work on health care, science and pay equity as among her most significant achievements. She also noted her effort to expand the number and influence of female lawmakers.